Nice large flight cages or aviaries?

[trueg11]

I am currently on the lookout for a nice sized flight cage or aviary that isnt too pricey. I would say the max cost would be about $500
I am looking for a nice cage that is able to house Gouldian finches in a colony setting. I am wanting this to be my main cage swhen I am not breeding them and for any babies and non breeding Goulds.
I am wanting a cgase with a lot of flight room for the Gouldians to get adqeuate exercise because I currently have them in a 32" length cage and they fly back and forth all day long and I would like them to have more room and use these as breeders.
One that I was looking at, though my selection is narrow currently from lack of knowledge on cages, is this double flight
http://www.amazon.com/Double-Flight-Cag ... B00494U134

Building my own is not really in the perimiter because I am not very handy when it comes to that and have no tools.

Any ideas??

[Nerien]

I have this cage for my parakeets (budgies). It is a great cage. Sturdy. Rolls easily, even tho the total weight is around 100 lbs. Lots of room. I have 16 parakeets in mine, with lots of perches and swings and things, tho parakeets are not territorial like some other birds are, with this many it becomes a flock. I set it up with only three perches along the top back side, one at each end and one in the middle, so the back side is the flight path. The front side has all the swings and more perches and toys, so the front side is for playing and climbing. Finches don't need all the gizmos, so you could put in enough perches and nests if you want, and still have lots of flight room.

Some things to know. It comes with a removable divider, so that you can split it into two 30" cages. However, when you take out the divider, it leaves a gap there. Big enough for a finch to squeeze out if it wanted. We filled in the gap with a piece of doweling (round wooden pole) held in place by a couple of nylon pull-ties. Simple. This also leaves a gap across the bottom between the two trays. We covered that with a piece of hard plastic curved over the gap and under the bottom grates, held it all down with a couple of rocks from outside. This way, it's all washable, 16 parakeets make a lot of poop.

The doors are big for good access, an adult can work head and shoulders through it if necessary, my petite ten year old daughter could just climb right in if she wanted. There is one nest-box hatch door at the top of each end. For parakeets, who can destroy and defeat anything, I added clips to make sure they stayed shut tight, probably not a problem for finches.

When considering this cage, I marked out the dimensions on the floor, and you can see it is big. But when I set it up, the volume of space was just amazing. an outline on the floor doesn't do it justice.

So, I would highly recommend this cage. And that price is good, (forgot to look, free shipping? should be, if not check other sources) rarely see it for less, and then not much less.

So yes, I can highly recommend this cage.

My daughter is about the size of an 8 year old here.

[finchmix22]

That is a great price for that double flight. I have three of the A & E double flights and I love them. I still want two more, but have to wait on my budget. I'd get it and think you and your gouldians will love it! I did the same thing with the gap, put wooden dowels, the ones that came with a smaller finch cage as a perch and cut the end to fit in the open slots and used the plastic pull ties to secure. On the bottom, I put another dowel in the gap and put tape over it to hold it there. Then, I lay down paper towels on the grate, so it makes for easy clean up!

[trueg11]

Thanks for the imput! It si very much appreciated, I am not sure why this got moved to the marketplace as I was no tlooking for someones cage just for ideas but nonetheless, thanks fro the time to let me know and teh picture as well, it does look lik eplenty of space! I think the Gouldians will be plenty happy there

[trueg11]

So with this cage, both the A and E and the HQ models have a gap in the middle?

[finchmix22]

The HQ gap is on the bottom, I believe. Also, the doors are on top of each other, I think. Many people use both types.

[Lisa]

Wow, that cage looks huge in Nerien's picture... wouldn't even know it's the same cage pictured on Amazon.

Looks like a good price for such a large cage. How annoying the part about the gaps but sounds like it's easily taken care of.

Maybe I'll consider one of these for my new additions after the upcoming bird show

[Sally]

I have the HQ version of the double flight, and yes, there is a gap where the divider would go. However, I have had various species in this cage, and the only time I have had a problem with escapees is with an Orange-cheeked Waxbill. Right now, I have male BCCBs in there, and none of them have tried to get out. You will find on some of these cages that the last bar before a corner may be a bit more than 1/2" spacing. If it concerns you, you can always hang an ivy garland in the spaces as a block.

Also, my HQ cage has just two large doors, one on each side. With large doors, you always chance one getting out, but you can block the door with a net, your body, or hang/drape something over the opening while you have it open.

[Nerien]

Oops, sorted out my photos and lost the link, so here's the cage again:



And again, my daughter is about the size of an 8 year old here. (She's really 10 here, but petite and slender.)

And yes, the volume is huge. Could easily fit both kids, her and my 14 year old son, in there. Two adults could easily sit in there. When I was putting it together, kids pulled out the bottom grates and trays and stood up in there. My daughter will pull over a stepstool, and stick the whole top half of her body in there to talk with the birds. They don't seem to mind that much, I guess because she's small and squeaky and non-threatening, and they all go to the other half so she's not that close to them.

[FeatherHarp]

Wonderful setup Nerien! I like how you have made a 'see-through wall' with the cage and integrated it into your room setting. I can only imagine the noise level with 16 budgies chattering. I have only had 4 budgies at one time and they were plenty noisy.

I don't have a double flight but it sure would be nice to have.

Thanks for sharing the photo.